Ernst Leonhardt (politician)

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Ernst Leonhardt (born September 25, 1885 in Tracy City , Tennessee , USA, † March 26, 1945 in Oberndorf am Neckar ) was a Swiss politician of the front movement . He was one of the central figures of the National Front, the Volksbund and the SGAD.

Life

Ernst Leonhardt was the son of a German and a Swiss woman. When he was a child, his father emigrated to Basel , where he went to school. After completing his apprenticeship, Leonhardt joined the Swiss Army and made it a major. In 1932 he became a member of the National Front and was appointed Gau leader for Basel and Solothurn .

In 1934 there was a dispute with Alfred Zander , Leonhardt resigned from the National Front and together with Emil Sonderegger founded the Volksbund . On March 11, 1934, a rift broke out there, and Leonhardt became the sole leader of the Volksbund. In February 1935, all members of the National Socialist Federal Workers' Party (NSEAP) / Bund National Socialist Confederations (BNSE) joined the Volksbund. This was renamed and was then called the National Socialist Swiss Workers' Party (NSSAP). In the same year Leonhardt was released from the army due to his National Socialist attitude.

In 1938 Leonhardt founded the Swiss Society of Friends of an Authoritarian Democracy (SGAD) with the aim of transforming the Confederation into a National Socialist leader state. In November 1939 there was a trial in federal court against former members of the NSSAP, which ended with prison terms of six months to one year. In 1939 Leonhardt traveled to Frankfurt and received support from the Reich Propaganda Ministry. At the end of 1939 Leonhardt fled to Germany .

In 1944 the former members of the SGAD were tried again. Leonhardt was sentenced to a long prison term in absentia. Leonhardt died in 1945 in an Allied air raid on Oberndorf am Neckar (Württemberg).

literature

  • Beat Glaus: The National Front. A Swiss fascist movement 1930–1940. Zurich / Einsiedeln / Cologne 1969.
  • Walter Wolf: Fascism in Switzerland. The history of the front movements in German-speaking Switzerland. 1930-1945. Zurich 1969.
  • Walter Wolf: Ernst Leonhardt (politician). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . 2008
personal data
SURNAME Leonhardt, Ernst
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss politicians of the front movement
DATE OF BIRTH September 25, 1885
PLACE OF BIRTH Tracy City , Tennessee , USA
DATE OF DEATH March 26, 1945
Place of death Oberndorf am Neckar